Episode 20, "The Red Mobile Suit"
*****SPOILERS***** Synopsis: Zeheart tests the Veigan MS, Zedas-R, but is disappointed. He visits a grown up Desil. The Diva enters a shoal zone to avoid combat. The Veigans ambush the ship. Zeheart sorties in the X-Rounder MS, Zeydra. Asemu engages Zeheart is combat and has difficulty thinking of him as an enemy. Zeheart defeats Asemu and threatens to kill him should he see him again on the battlefield. Comments: So, Desil has made his return to the show. He barely looks like he did as a child, but I guess that’s growing up. Not only is he grown up, but he is seriously ripped, too. I bet he could take Flit on with his bare hands. Maybe he’s ripped for that very reason. Being defeated so utterly as a child has made him driven to defeat the Gundam pilot. He’s also got a serious entitlement thing going on and is not happy for Zeheart’s promotion. There’ll probably be some friction between the two. I’ve got to say, for all the different reasons they could have given Zeheart to wear a mask in this show, they actually came up with a pretty decent one, with the mask enabling the pilot to better channel their X-Rounder abilities into the MS. He’s not hiding from his past or trying to fool anybody, he needs it for work. It’s probably one of the show’s better ideas, though I’m pretty sure it wasn’t necessary at all. It’s just a fun little thing. But the mask is upstaged by the absolutely ridiculous helmet he wears. That thing is way too bulky. Is it just me, or is Woolf the best character in this show? What was a kind of arrogant swagger in the first part of the series has become learned confidence. He’s just that good. The only thing that could top this is Grodek showing up again. Overall Score: 3.5 out of 5
Gundam AGE Episode 19 Review
Episode 19, "Asemu’s Departure"
*****SPOILERS***** Synopsis: While Asemu joins the military, Zeheart is put in charge of the Veigan’s occupation forces. Romary has also joined the Federation. Asemu and Romary are assigned to the Diva, along with Dique’s daughter, Arisa. Millias Alloy is now the captain of the ship. On the ship, Asemu discovers the Gundam AGE-2. Woolf Enneacle is put in charge of mobile suit forces. The Diva encounters Veigan mobile suits and mobilizes its MS force, except Asemu who has to wait on the configuration of the AGE-2. When it’s done, Asemu launches and supports the others. The Veigans go after the Diva, but he shoots them down. However, having disobeyed orders, Asemu is punished. Comments: So here we have another time skip to Asemu already being ordered to a ship. Time sure seems to move fast in the world of this show. They couldn’t at least have given us a montage of Asemu in military academy? So Romary decided to join the military as a bridge bunny on the Diva. Interesting. I guess with her having an actual position on the ship makes her more useful than Emily was. Something I wonder about is if Flit outranks Milias? I mean, he was just a kid and a rookie pilot on the Diva but now he’s a commander and she’s just the ship’s captain? I don’t think it’s fair to put Flit in a commanding role just because he was the Gundam pilot. Amuro Ray only made lieutenant by the time CCA came around. Another thing I wonder is why should Asemu be given the Gundam? In the first generation you can rationalize that he knew the Gundam better than anyone else, having developed it. I guess Asemu probably knows more about it than, say, Woolf, but he’s a brand new pilot, and it’s not like he’s been out in the Gundam a whole lot. Plus, that was the old Gundam. The new Gundam is the most powerful MS, shouldn’t it go to the most talented pilot? The guy who pilots it now disobeyed orders TWICE, first ignoring an order and then going down to the hanger when he was supposed to be confined to his quarters. And where are the soldiers to make sure he follows that? Milias sure sucks at her job. Grodek would have slapped his shit and thrown him in the brig. I think. Come to think of it, Grodek was pretty wonky, too. Speaking of the new Gundam, is it just me or is it a thinly disguised Gundam 00?Overall Score:
3.5 out of 5
Gundam Posers – Submission Deadline Moved Back
The Mobile Suit Gundam novels are Zaku approved!
I’ve decided to move back the submission deadline to midnight of April 7th. That gives everyone an extra week to submit their entries. As you can see I’ve got the novels already and they’re just waiting to make their way to our lucky winners. I haven’t started to read my copy yet but I’ve certainly heard some interesting things from PenguinTruth who received a copy as well. A lot of new insights into the events of the First Year War and the events in the original series!
Gundam Unicorn Episode 5 PV
PG Zaku II ver. Reprise – Update 03
I’m nearing the end of my PG Zaku refurbishment. Enjoy a few photos of the kit pre-full armament…
Noboru Ishiguro (1938-2012)
Today I’m mourning the loss of one of my favorite anime directors, Noboru Ishiguro. He was one of the directors of Space Battleship Yamato and was the director of Super Dimensional Fortress Macross and Legend of the Galactic Heroes. He even directed an old childhood favorite of mine, Fushigi na Koala Blinky, or Noozles in the U.S., which aired on the Nick Jr. block in the eighties and early nineties. Ishiguro was a massive talent and the world of anime is sure to be somewhat less without him. He was 73.
ANIME TOP TEN (LIST #2) FOLLOW-UP
List #2 took a little more decision-making on my part. I had to evaluate my current list and make a few choice corrections to reflect my current tastes. But there are still plenty of movies or single-part OVAs to praise, so here’s ten more, in short.
#s 11-20: 11. Farewell Space Battleship Yamato – The most memorable Yamato film, and an early attempt at capping the franchise, this movie has action, drama, romance, and plenty of large scale operatics. 12. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind – Miyazaki does what he does best in this adventure film with an environmental message. He transports the viewer to a foreign world, filled with wonder and danger, but without alienating the audience. 13. Lupin III: Episode 0: First Contact – This is probably the quintessential Lupin adventure, the jewel in the crown of Lupin’s grand age of TV specials and embodiment of Lupindom. Not only does it provide the story of how the Lupin gang met, but it’s also an exciting, funny romp through New York City, Lupin style. 14. Final Yamato – The climactic (then) final chapter of the Yamato franchise, Yamato goes again on a large scale mission, it’s last, to save the Earth from a Noahic disaster. Emotions run high, as does melodrama, but all in all a fine conclusion to the Yamato story. 15. Princess Mononoke – Another gorgeous, sprawling, sweeping story about so many things, such as perserverence, mercy, the environment, and coming of age, Miyazaki again hits a home run as he teaches us all the importance of respecting natural forces. 16. Lupin III: The Fuma Conspiracy – A lot like Castle of Cagliostro, but maybe not quite as beautiful. It does have the advantage of being more Lupin-ish than Cagliostro, with the characters acting a bit more like their usual selves. But also like Cagliostro, it has quite a bit going for it as an adventure movie.17. Patlabor: The Movie –
ANIME TOP TEN (LIST #2) – #1: Royal Space Force: Wings of the Honneamise (1987)
Director(s): Hiroyuki Yamaga
Screenplay: Hiroyuki Yamaga
Music: Ryuichi Sakamoto
"Reach for the stars" is a cliche motivational phrase denoting a desire to go as far as you possibly can to obtain your goals in life. In this movie, you can actually imagine the people who worked on it as desiring just that, not just the characters. It was an ambitious project for the fledgling studio Gainax and it unfortunately didn’t really make too many waves in Japan. But it’s a criminally underrated film that expresses its themes with thoughtfulness and doesn’t try to sugar-coat or talk down to its audience.
Royal Space Force is about a lost generation. Most of its main characters are a disillusioned, cynical bunch who don’t hold a lot of respect for their lots in life. The huge undertaking of a space program is something they don’t fully appreciate at first. In fact, it’s not until towards the end that these characters even come out of the fog of their stagnation and steel their determination to make the project work.
I love the details in the film. The studio clearly poured enormous attention into the film. The backgrounds are lush, the detail of the machines and the expressions of the characters and their movement are all excellent. The explosions are even well-drawn and have seemingly realistic physics to it. If nothing else, the movie is surely a visual feast, taking us into a world much like our own, with some slight, but vital differences.
Of course, one would be amiss if one didn’t mention a certain scene towards the end of the movie. It’s not a pleasant scene. If you’re any kind of decent person, you’ll probably feel disgust towards our "hero", Shiro. It even seems a bit too sudden and probably a bit too far to take the situation. The movie could have skipped that scene entirely and it probably would have been fine. Shiro is still a guy who needs to turn away from his life of decadence and sluggishness. However, in the scene’s defense, it creates a bigger need for Shiro to redeem himself, at the risk of his own life and well being. I also have an alternative view of the scene, if anyone’s interested. Not that it excuses Shiro’s behavior.
Wings of the Honneamise is a triumph of Japanese animation about the triumph of a man looking for a purpose in his life as well as others. It is as inspirational as much as it is well-crafted. It’s a must see.